31 March 2024

Interview with Michelle Dockery who plays Estella in This Town

Who do you play, and how does she fit into This Town?

I play Estella, the mother of Bardon who is one of the group who set up the band. Estella has been exiled in some way from the community. Estella is the wife of Eamonn, who has been recruited by the IRA and has been working for them for many years. Estella, we assume, has begun to have a drinking problem from the time that Eamonn started working for the IRA and due to her being loose-lipped and talking far too much about what she knows she has to be removed from the community.

So we find Estella living outside of the estate in very bad conditions. For her, it feels like she is very much on the outskirts of her community, that she used to be part of. The relationship is very fractured between Eamonn and Bardon, and Estella misses her son very much because she doesn’t spend much time with him, but across the series the music actually brings them together.

It’s really beautiful because Estella is a singer and she used to sing in clubs around the town, but due to her problems with addiction she is no longer doing that. The band reignites that artistic and creative side of Estella which also helps with her addiction, and she tries to tackle that.

What drew you to This Town?

I fell in love with the script upon the first few pages. I think Steven Knight is the most brilliant and prolific writer and it was an instant yes from me to this job. I just instantly wanted to play Estella. There’s a scene in a church at a funeral involving a song that was a pinpoint for me. I’m a singer, so to be able to sing in a show and play character who’s a singer was something that really drew me to the series.

It’s been really fun, the music side of it. We’ve absolutely loved it and the music being created from scratch from our brilliant collaborators has been a real joy.

How was it working with Kae Tempest and Dan Carey?

It was fantastic. Working with Dan Carey and meeting Kae Tempest, that was just a dream for me because I’m such a fan. And the lyrics are just beautiful. The whole character of Dante as a poet – what they’ve done is give him the most beautiful lyrics. So that part of the process has been wonderful.

I love working in the studio and recording and so it’s been really nice to tap into that part. Paul Whittington is an absolutely incredible director, and he really sets the tone from the beginning. He’s so passionate about this story and about the music.

Set in a world of family ties, teenage kicks and the exhilarating music of a generation, This Town tells the story of a band’s formation against a backdrop of violence, capturing how creative genius can emerge from a time of madness. Both a high octane thriller and a family saga, This Town opens in 1981 at a moment of huge social tensions and unrest. Against this backdrop, it tells the story of a group of young people fighting to choose their own paths in life, and each in need of the second chance that music offers.

This Town (6×60) is produced by Kudos (a Banijay UK company) and Nebulastar for the BBC, co-produced with Mercury Studios, in association with Kudos North, Stigma Films and Nick Angel.

This Town is available in full on BBC iPlayer from 6am on Sunday 31 March, with episodes one and two airing on BBC One at 9pm on Sunday 31 March and Monday 1 April. The series continues on BBC One on Sundays at 9pm.